Denver’s budget deficit and dwindling private contributions could mean that after-school programs will be cut for students at 40 schools, the City Council learned Wednesday.

The information came during a committee hearing in which agency heads sketched out for council members possible budget cuts.

The loss of after-school programs is just one potential reduction being considered as the city tries to close a $120 million budget gap over the next 18 months.

Councilwoman Carol Boigon asked for another committee meeting to discuss the situation along with other programming for youth that could be hit by budget cuts.

“I’m seeing a pattern here,” she said.

Maria Guajardo Lucero, executive director of Mayor John Hickenlooper’s office of education and children, said the $120 million budget gap means the city likely will have to cut its yearly contribution to after-school programming to $200,000 from the current amount of $250,000.

She said a foundation run by Denver Public Schools has seen private contributions decline, and it is lessening its after-school support to $100,000 from $300,000 annually.

The decreases mean the number of schools with after-school programming is scheduled to drop from about 90 to 50, she said.

Lucero said her agency is trying to find other sources of funding.

The council also chafed at news that a youth jobs program would take a hit due to less money from the city and because the federal stimulus money expires next year.

Andre Pettigrew, manager of the office of economic development, said the result is that the youth jobs program will run only in the summer instead throughout the year. He added that the number of youths served in the summer would drop from 1,000 to 200, but he said his agency would need more time to determine how much of the decline is due to reduced funding by the city.

Councilwoman Jeanne Faatz questioned how many of the staffers in Mayor John Hickenlooper’s office are receiving their pay from other city agencies. The mayor specified in his budget last year that his office has 19 positions, two of which are now listed as vacant.

Other agencies, though, carry the cost of at least six additional staffers in the mayor’s office, including Amy Mueller, his deputy chief of staff, who is paid by the Public Works Department.

Eric Brown, Hickenlooper’s spokesman, said the mayor is allowed 50 appointees, which he can place in any agency. He said the mayor has left nine of those appointees vacant.

“We haven’t pulled a fast one here,” Brown said, adding that Mueller does some Public Works functions in her current post. “Whatever pot of money it comes from, it’s all general fund money.”

Faatz said she isn’t prepared yet to comment on whether the practice should continue.

Christopher N. Osher is a reporter on the investigation team at The Denver Post who has covered law enforcement, judicial and regulatory issues for the news organization. He also has reported from war zones in Africa.

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